I use one around my garden. It's the only way to keep out raccoons. I use a solar charger. Maybe it's just a coincidence that they haven't destroyed anything in the garden since I put it up, but I'm hoping it helps. My garden is about 20x30' and I use a 5 mile charger. I can't go into detail right now, but I'll be back tomorrow to explain more.

I use 2 solar powered ele fences around 2 plots but they're only 4 ft off the ground so deer can jump over them with ease. I augment it with taller 10' rebar at the plot corners with string higher up to deter the deer. My Ele fence does not deter squirrels as they easily hop thru it and some rabbits too. A solar set-up cost me about $150 for a 40'x40' plot but that price was over 10 years ago. Here's a pic of one plot, you can barely make out the added rebars and string...

Hi, yes, I don't have raccoons or deer and not a lot of squirrel issues, it seems to be just the rabbits. I also posted to another forum and someone there who had used the electric fence said it kept out ground hogs, but not the rabbits. They said they took down the solar fence because it's easier to manage a regular fence. They kept it in gase the groundhog comes back because it did keep him out.

The poles that are typically sold with ele fences are built so the wires are about 18" apart (4 ascending strands surrounding the plot) so some ground critters can hop over or crawl under the lower wire. They really need a better design of poles so that the 2 lowest lines are much closer to the ground level. It may be possible to jury rig 2-3 lower lines (just 3" apart) to deter rabbits more efficiently.

I have ZERO luck keeping out rabbits. It does keep my dogs out, so that is worth it. I have not had a coon in so it might work on them - I have a lot of coons so it probably does work on them. I tried adjusting wire heights to zap rabbits, if it ever worked I could not tell.

My conclusion, success:

Rabbits 0%

Coons 100%

Dogs 95%

When I have cookouts I get all the kids together and I turn the fence off. I then tell them all to hold the top wire and whoever holds the longest gets $5, then I turn it on. Joking of course. Mom's do not like that joke.

Electric poultry netting would probably be the way to go if you are looking to keep out rabbits. Traditional electric fences are just single wire strands strung up on poles, whereas an electric poultry net is actually a net with small holes meant to keep small animals in (or out).

Rodney

Klem - Thanks for sharing your experience with electric fences. Someone else told me they tried every configuration she could and she still saw bunnies jumping in past the electric fence, so she took it down. But maybe there is a difference from one brand to the other.

Rodney, I never heard of electric poultry netting. I'm going to have to look for that, it sounds like another option.

Thanks...

I really think incorrect installation is most often at fault than difference in brands. When people say animals paid no mind to their electric fence ask if they tested the fence. Once is usually all it takes and they don't come back. If feet are on dry wood chips I could see how they might get through but if that happens wet the chip just before dusk.

I'm back. Yes, deer can easily jump over most fencing, but fortunately, I have a lot of trellises, raised stock tank beds, etc., and I think that deters them, since there's not alot of space to jump to. As far as rabbits.......I learned when I had chickens that in order to keep varmints from digging under the Fort Knox of a run I had, was to lay wire (chicken wire/hardware cloth wire,etc.) on the ground around the fence (about 2' wide), right up to the fence. Grass and weeds will grow right through it and animals wont' dig through it. Fortunately, I haven't had to do that with my garden fencing, although my 4' high fencing is also surrounded at the bottom with 1" chicken wire. We have a 6' copper grounding rod. I have a warning light that blinks if the electric wire isn't working. I also have an electric wire tester that tells me what the voltage is around the parts of the garden. We just recently moved the location of the solar charger, because my trees are growing too much, and causing too much shade.

Prairiemoon..........how big is your garden? I live in the woods, so we have lots of animals. I've had the electric fence for about 8 years now and nothing has gotten in..........except mice and chipmunks......which can be a problem. They easily can dig from outside the garden to inside.

Hey Donald V, next time tell the kids that if they take off their shoes you will raise the offer to $10 ;-). .......and rebar does make for a good ground, especially when leaning over a live fence while grabbing onto the rebar. Zowie! My neighbor askes me if I ever tested my fences and I told him, Yep, pretty much weeky!

I use an electrical fence around the sweet corn...a must.

Thanks Klem, I'll keep that in mind.

Catherine, my vegetable garden is all raised beds in about a 30x30 area on a small 1/4 acre in a semi urban neighborhood. I don't get deer. We had a turkey in the yard 2 weeks ago which shocked us. lol He flew in and out again. lol We've had groundhogs maybe 5 of the last 20 years. That's been the worst, they could climb right over our fence. We do have chipmunks and squirrels and I've seen a mole every once in awhile. Years ago we used to find a possum in our rubbish once in awhile, but haven't seen him in years. No skunks or raccoons. So really, rabbits are the biggest problem we have now.

In my travels, asking for solutions, someone mentioned the idea of an electric fence and suggested it wasn't that expensive and less effort to install than a 'fort knox' type of fencing with wire under ground all aroud the perimeter. I'm just weighing my options. At this point, I'm really looking for definite success and not a 'maybe'. I've been doing 'maybe this will work' for too many years and it's getting too frustrating.

How high are your raised beds currently? Can you add to the bed walls? While rabbits will dig under a fence, they are far less likely to burrow into a raised bed. Use board walls or other solid fence instead of open weave mesh fencing prevent them from seeing into the bed to try to be curious. Rabbits mostly rely on their sight to find their food and then use their noses to tell if it's ready to eat it. Board walls or solid fence blocks their sight of food, and reduce scent carry. Rabbits also tend not to like to jump over what they can't see over since it might not be safe on the other side. A board wall combined on top of the raised bed creates a spot they don't really want to burrow under/into and can't see any reason to try. At least 24 inches tall for cottontails, three feet if you got jackrabbits.

It can create some shade in the beds to do this method. You can utilize it or build up in the bed to compensate to suit your needs. This method is mostly helpful for rabbits and some walking fowl, not as much for other critters. Walls can be many materials, so long as it's solid wall and so they can't see through it. Wood boards and fencing planks are pretty common now. Woven walls or wattle has long been used and can be extremely effective. Bamboo fence rolls are probably the easiest available modern version of wattle for most people.

Gardeners that have raccoons would be happy to share with rabbits if coons left them alone. Where rabbits eat a few young and tender plants a family of raccoons can destroy a small plot of corn in a single night a few days before it's ready for harvest. Deer have a tendency to over populate then become desperate for food.

beesneeds - that is the second time this week, I've been told that blocking the view of the rabbit helps, but I cannot produce more shade, I already have too much. And even with full sun, if you are growing greens, lettuces squashes, anything fairly low growing how can you create a foot or two of shade around a raised bed that they are growing in? What you say makes perfect sense, just my circumstances don't seem to allow for it. Sounds like the idea of blocking their view would work if you were fencing around all the beds far enough back not to create more shade.

Klem- I can't disagree with that! i do realize how lucky I am. [g]

If the solution must have unanimous approval I suppose we need to bounce new ideas around. How about trapping and relocation? Unless rabbits are starving I doubt bait would help much but sitting traps next to beds so they walk in while skirting the bed. If you don't own nor want to buy,many cities and counties loan traps. Another option is a pellet gun,the things sit still until you practically step on them. I've never tried it but old dirt claims they make good compost. (;

The trouble with rabbits and relocation trapping is that if there is one, there are probably lots. That's not the case with coons or possums. I do routine trapping of the latter, and fortunately I don't have the former here. Just out of curiosity, are there scat mats (electric shock mats for dogs and cats) that could work over a large area? The ones I know about just cover a few square feet. Also might consider spike strips.

Never heard of shock mats either....I'll have to look into those. I have some areas that are small that I'd like to protect. So how would that work, just use the shock mats or lay them around a small hardware cloth fence/barrier? Would it help to place a shock mat right at an opening where they enter and exit?

The spike strips idea. Interesting. I saw someone recommending plastic forks sticking up all over the bed you want to keep them out of.

So I bought cayenne pepper to sprinkle over plants and on the ground around hostas etc. But I just couldn't trust it more than during the day when I am in and out and the dog is in and out. I cover them over with an overturned pot or milk crate over night and that keeps them out but it's a job doing that every night and making sure you take them off in the morning. It's a temporary solution.

So I had seen one hosta come up and had already sprinkled it and I was covering it every night, and got busy with other things, I went out this morning in the rain, and see that I have four other hostas up an inch and they've already bit the tops off them. So that kind of solution is not working for me. This week is supposed to be rain every day, so sprinkling cayenne pepper is useless. And rabbits don't wait for the sun to come out.

Look up "scat mat" and "spike strip" or "prickle strip". I think the former are intended for doorways. I think the former just use a small battery, but again, they only cover a few square feet. In principle, you could just put them on the sunny side of an area in which the other sides are high enough to block the view.

As I mentioned above we do have rabbits here and a few have gotten thru the ele fence over time. Their main food target in the past were the strawberry plants but we stopped growing them a few years ago. Since that time the few rabbits that remain are content to dine on the wild white clover which is a part of our wild lawn. Another rabbit control point are the neighborhood cats and a rare fox or two that roam our yard at nights. Our nite camera catches them on the prowl and no doubt they're searching for an easy snack.